Regenerative heat exchanger



Dec. 18, 1v951 H, COHEN ETAL 2,579,173

REGEINER'IIVE HEAT EXCHANGER Filed Aug. 23, 1948 Inventar- Patented Dec. 18, 195,1

nEGENEBA'rIvE HEAT ExonANGEn Henry Cohen, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, and Arthur 'Bynyon Devereux Robson, Peterborough, England, assignors to PowerJets (Research and Development) Limited, London, England, a

British company Application August 23, 1948, Serial No. 45,756 In Great Britain September 9, 1947 (Cl. 25T-6) 4 Claims. l

This invention relates to regenerativeheat exchangers of the kind wherein a. heat transmitting and absorbing matrix in disc or drum form is adapted to rotate successively through one chamber containing a fluid at a higher temperature and a second chamber containing another uid at a lower temperature, so as to absorb heat from the former and transmit it to the latter.

According to the present invention a regenerative heat exchanger of the kind described is provided with two-matrix discs so arranged in conjunction with the' dividing and sealing members and with the casing that the casing is formed into three chambers for each of the Huid flow paths, one of each of which is centrally situated between the two discs while the other two are situated each between a face of a disc and an adjacent end wall of the casing. The purpose of this arrangement is to enable the entry and leaving ducts of the high and lower temperature uids to be so arranged in conjunction with the two discs that the lower temperature iiuid enters through two of the outer chambers and passes through the discs to leave by a central chamber while the high temperature iuid enters the other central chamber and passes through the discs to leave by the other two outer chambers. The dividing and sealing members may be arranged to be guided in slots in the casing and end walls to allow for their movement normal to the face of the matrix discs and for maintaining a seal at the edges of the 'members adjacent the casingl and the walls.

Each member may be provided with rollers which are adapted to bear against a face of the matrix disc, the periphery of each of which rollers may project slightlyv beyond the edge of the member adjacent that face so that when the members are urged towards the face of the matrix, e.g. by means of a spring or other resilient means, a small and definite clearance is maintained between the said/edge of the member and the face of the disc.

In the preferred construction according to the invention there are three dividing and sealing members of which onevis arranged diametrically between the two discs and the other two are arranged in the same plane as the central member between a discfand the casing. The dividing and sealing member between the two discs may be xed to the casing while the discs and the other two members are movable in an axial direction.

The effect of the general arrangement of the ducting as described above, is to maintain the outer chambers, the bearings for the discs and the spring or other resilient means urging the movable dividing members and discs axially at a relatively low temperature while the central chambers are at a relatively higher temperature, this being generally advantageous irom the mechanical point of View, and in particular for retaining the resilience of any springs used in the construction.

In an alternative form of construction the above-mentioned strips may be of ceramic material instead of metal.

The invention will now be described by way of example only with reference to the accompanying drawings of which the single iigure is a divided and sectioned perspective view oi, a regenerative heat exchanger with sealing or dividing members or plates and rotatable matrix discs.

In the gure a regenerative heat exchanger has an outer cylindrical casing I0 with tangentiallyl arranged iluid inlet and outlet connections; two inlets II and I2 and one outlet I3 for the cold high pressure fluid and one inlet I4 and two outlets I5 and I6 for the hot low pressure fluid. The cylindrical casing is provided with removable end covers I1 and I8.

Two similar porous matrix members I9 and 28 of disc form are mounted for rotation within the casing I0 on a shaft 2|. They are splined to the shaft 2I (splines not shown) and are capable of relative axial movement on the splines. The end covers I1 and I8 are provided with bearing bosses 24 and 25 respectively in which bearings 22 and 23 are located respectively to support the matrix carrying shaft 2|. The disc members I9 and 20 divide the casing I8 into three chambers and each chamber is divided diametrically by sealing or dividing members or plates 26, 21 and 28 which are supported in grooves or slots 29 or 38 formed respectively in the casing III and covers I1 and I8. The two sealing or dividing plates 26 and 28 adjacent the covers I1 and I8 are spring urged towards one another by compression springs 3l and 32 arranged around the shaft 2| between the covers I1 and I8 and the plates 26 and 28 respectively. The two matrix discs I9 and 20 are sandwiched between the central dividing plate 21 and the two sealing or dividing plates 26 and 21. Hollow bosses 33, 34 and 35 are formed respectively on the sealing or dividing plates 26, 21 and 28 through which the shaft 2I passes. The bosses 33, 34 and 35 closely engage the matrix discs and the end covers I1 and I8 to prevent any leakage between the high and low pressure chambers. The bosses 33 and 35 are arranged to receive the springs 3| and 32 respectively.

The matrix discs I9 and 20 are each formed of a corrugated strip 38 and a plain strip 31 of metal wound in a spiral on a central boss 3l. A rim member 39 is placed around the spirally arranged strips 36 and 31. A labyrinth gland (not shown) may be machined on the outer surface of the rim 39. The sealing or dividing plates 28, 21 and 28 may be arranged to rub against the matrix discs I9 and 20 to form the diametrical seal or they may be provided with carbon rollers 9 at their ends addacent the periphery of the discs I9 and 20 to roll against the rim 39. The rollers 9 are arranged to be slightly proud of the face of the sealing or dividing plates 26, 21 and 28 so that a minute clearance is maintained between the face of the discs and the face of the sealing or dividing plates.

We claim:

,1. A regenerative heat exchanger comprising a cylindrical casing, a shaft extending axially through said casing and supported in bearings in the ends of said casing, a pair of rotatable heat absorbing and heat transmitting cellular matrix discs spaced apart on said shaft within said casing and dividing it into three chambers, sealing and dividing members diametrically arranged in said casing between said discs and between said discs and said ends of said casing dividing said chambers into two separate groups of chambers, one group for the passage of a high temperature fluid and the other group for a lower temperature uid, the high temperature group being provided with a uid inlet to the central chamber and with fluid outlets in each of the two outer chambers and the lower temperature group being provided with a fluid outlet from the central chamber and uid in.

lets in each of the two outer chambers 2. A regenerative heat exchanger comprising a cylindrical casing, a shaft extending axially through said casing and supported in bearings in the ends of said casing, a pair of rotatable heat absorbing and heat transmitting cellular matrix discs spaced apart on said shaft within said casing and dividing it into three chambers.

sealing and dividing members diametrically arranged in said casing between said discs and between said discs and said ends of said casing dividing said chambers into two separate groups of chambers, one group for the passage of a high temperature fluid and the other group for a lower temperature fluid, the high temperature group being provided with a fluid inlet to the central chamber and with fluid outlets in each of the two outer chambers and the lower temperature group being provided with a fluid outlet from the central chamber and uid inlets in each of the two outer chambers, and resilient means urging said sealing and dividing members together to engage said discs between them to maintain a seal between said high and lower temperature uids.

3. A regenerative heat exchanger comprising a cylindrical casing, a shaft extending ax- 4 ially through said casing and supported in bearings in the ends of said casing. a pair of rotatable heat absorbing and heat transmitting cellular matrix discs spaced apart on said shaft within said casing and dividing it into three chambers, sealing and dividing members diametrically arranged in said casing between said discs and between said discs and said ends of said casing dividing said chambers into two separate groups of chambers, one group for the passage of a `high temperature fluid and the other group for a'- lower temperature huid, the high temperature group being provided with afluid inlet to the central chamber and with fluid outlets in each of the two outer chambers and the lower temperature group being provided with a fluid outlet from the central chamber and fluid inlets in each of the two outer chambers, rollers on said sealing and dividing members. each with their periphery projecting slightly beyond the edges of said members adjacent said discs to engage said discs and resilient means urging said sealing and dividing members together to maintain said rollers in contact with said discs to maintain a seal with a small gap.

4. A regenerative heat exchanger comprising a cylindrical casing, a shaft extending axially through said casing and supported in bearings in the ends of said casing, a pair of rotatable heat absorbing and heat transmitting cellular matrix discs spaced apart on said shaft within said casing and dividing it info three chambers, sealing and dividing members diametrically arranged in said casing between said discs and between said discs and said ends of said casing dividing said chambers into two separate groups of chambers. one group for the passage of a high temperature fluid and the other group for a lower temperature nuid, the high temperature group being provided with a uid inlet to the central chamber and with fluid outlets in each of the two outer chambers and the lower temperature group being provided with a fluid outlet from the central chamber and iiuid inlets in each of the two outer chambers and resilient means on said shaft between said casing ends and said adjacent sealing and dividing member `urging said sealing and dividing members togather axially to engage said discs between them to maintain a seal between said high and lower temperature fluids.

HENRY COHEN. ARTHUR RYNYON DEVEREUX ROBSON.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,516,108 Ljungstrom et al. Nov. 18, 1924 1,652,025 Ljungstrom Dec. 6, 1927 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 255,418 Great Britain July 29, 1927 311,889 Great Britain May 23, 1927 

